Biography as the "telescope of life..."

As I am investigating my text, I am amazed how the deeper I dig, the more questions I come up with and how each new piece to the puzzle is sending me in a new direction. In the Preface to "The Narrative of the Life of Mary Jemison," James E. Seaver claims biography is the “best field in which to study mankind” (iii) and he places the written words of a person’s life above any other form of monument.

In the introduction, Seaver sets the scene for the narrative and describes the “Peace of 1783” (vii). Using the foundation of the history of post-Revolutionary War upstate New York, he introduces how the story of Mary Jemison, “The White Woman” became part of that history. He positions Mary as a kind, giving woman with a “natural goodness of heart” (viii), despite her years of association with an Indian companion and “notwithstanding her children and associates were all Indians” (viii). Realizing that her story was important from a historical standpoint, some prominent gentlemen from the area, especially Daniel W. Banister, Esq., decided to collect her stories. In 1823, Banister hired Seaver to “collect the materials, and prepare the work for press” (ix).

Seaver continues in his introduction by describing Mary and even admits: “[h]er appearance was well calculated to excite a great degree of sympathy” (x). Mary Jemison is depicted in the introduction in a compassionate light in order to create a sense of identification with the white audience. Her “whiteness” is shown in the introduction as her kind, giving qualities and this creates a believability for the audience while constructing a character that is sympathetic. As Seaver recounts her personal history in the narrative form, he displays the duality of Mary’s existence. He demonstrates how her whiteness creates sympathy which brings the audience into the story, while simultaneously reminding the audience that because she remained amongst the Indians, she became Indian: “when she looks up and is engaged in conversation her countenance is very expressive; but from her long residence with the Indians, she has acquired the habit of peeping from under eye-brows as they do with the head inclined downwards” (xi). This back and forth between cultures is explicitly addressed throughout the author’s introduction. I believe this cross-cultural exchange is the focus of the book. How does an individual from one culture be taken from that culture and forced into another only to stay part of that new culture by choice?

:)

Who invented the Micro Fiche?

I've been really sick all week but have been trying to keep up with all the work for my two graduate seminars and teaching my 3 sections of 1102. The UCF library tells me I the micro fiches I ordered through ILL were in, so I went to pick them up between classes on Tuesday.

Yesterday, in between my 12:00 and 4:00 class, I went up to the third floor to see if I could quickly print out a copy. What was I thinking? I didn't mind paying the 10 cents per copy but that micro fiche machine almost killed me! LOL. The guy who was helping me barely knew how to work it, then you have to slide the thing around, everything is backwards, going from page to page was frustrating. It hit that part of my brain where sense of direction is stored and that must have been the part of the brain that I smashed when I fell out of a car at age three. Or maybe it was all the cold medicine I was on, but at one point I was weeping over the archaic machinery.

I finally got the silly thing to print out what I needed for the next assignment, but it wasn't pretty. I wish there was a service where you could hand the paid staff at the library what you need copied and/or scanned. I would pay 20 cents a page for a service like that!

Okay...I still can't breathe and I'm really dizzy so I'm going back to bed and taking Charles Brockden Brown with me! Sorry I missed class last night. BTW...I've really enjoyed getting to see everyone's blogs. I love how I can "follow" all of them. Wish more people were following mine (thanks, Jay Jay).

:)

I have in my hand my own copy of "The Narrative of the Life of Mary Jemison" on microfiche and FTU says I can keep it! I've never owned a microfiche before. I'm kind of excited in a weird way. I also got the FSU copy, but they want it back.

I know nothing about microfiche except the pages on it are really tiny. I think the last time I dealt with anything like this, it was microfilm and you had to use the giant machine with the crank you turned to go to the next page! So I sat in my office at UCF yesterday between classes and had an e-chat with a librarian. She was wonderful and told me where to go and how much it would cost to print things out. She wasn't sure about creating a PDF so she gave me the name of Ven Basco, the coordinator of InfoSource/Research Consultation. He was very helpful. I think if it wasn't for the people at the UCF library, I'd still be floundering with my research project. Thanks library people!

:)

Wooo.hooooo.

The microfiche of the book you requested

Title: A narrative of the life of Mrs. Mary Jemison who was taken by the Indians, in the year 1755 ... : containing an account of the murder of her father and his family, her sufferings, her marriage to two Indians ... carefully taken from her own words, Nov. 29
Author: Seaver, James E. (James Everett), 1787-1827.

is ready to pickup at the circulation desk.

The lending library made the microfiche for you, so they are for you to keep. You do not need to return them.

How cool is that! Now I guess I need to see if one of those old micr fiche machines with the crank handle is available on eBay.
:)

podcast

I can't get an audio file to post here so what I did was create a separate space for a Mary Jemison podcast. If you would like to hear the audio, please visit:

http://web.me.com/elenaa99/Site/Podcast/Podcast.html

This new technology is giving me a large amount of ideas...too many...of what I want to do and where I want this to go. Creating this was fun and challenging since I have no idea what I'm doing half the times.

:)

Illustration from "Indian Captive: The Story of Mary Jemison"

ugh...

I need to be reading more. I literally hit a wall (the cold medication makes me dizzy and I actually walked into the wall this morning). I'm really interested in this topic, but am still waiting to hear from FSU about the micro fiche of my first edition. When I'm sick I can barely keep my head up and I keep finding the 1992 edition flat on my face.

Hopefully the coming week will get me healthy and inspired.

:)

Visual depictions of Mary Jemison...

This representation of the famous Dehgewanus, or "White Woman of the Genesee" comes from a real photo postcard circa 1907 and shows what Mary may have looked like when she left the Genesee Valley for the Buffalo Creek Reservation in 1831.


Mary Jemison Statue and Grave at the Council Grounds of Letchworth State Park where William Letchworth had it moved in 1910.


This painting depicts the kidnapping of colonist Mary Jemison by Shawnee Indians and French raiders. Credit: Painting by Robert Griffing; used by permission of Paramount Press, Inc.

There's something about Mary...

I scanned this out of the 1992 edition by June Namias. This same illustration was used as the frontispiece to the 1865 edition, courtesy of the Rare Books and Special Collections, Rush Rheese Library, University of Rochester.

Food for Thought...

I think using a blog is a great way to share information on a topic. People with similar interests can enter the conversation and give thoughts, insights and possibly, criticisms which can give a blogger a new path to travel. What I would like to do is begin with this blog and sort of my kitchen junk drawer...it's where you put everything you're not sure what to do with, but can't throw out. I would eventually like to let this blog grown into a full Web site about the Jemison text, so this blog is invaluable as a storage tool and conversation creator. As history has shown, books and writing don't stand still. I believe we are entering a new frontier when it comes to the written word and I am intrigued. I think Davidson has started me down a path looking at the history of the text and new technologies are allowing for a forgotten text to gain new life.

Think of all the trees that can be saved!

:)

Research Analysis thus far

“A narrative of the life of Mrs. Mary Jemison who was taken by the Indians, in the year 1755, when only about twelve years of age, and has continued to reside am...
by James E. Seaver.

Author: Seaver, James E. (James Everett) 1787-1827
Published: Canadaigua [N.Y.] : Printed by J.D. Bemis, 1824.

That's a really long title!

I believe the reading public of the time was fascinated by anything having to do with captivity narratives. This one was especially popular since the female protagonist remained with her captors. I chose this book because of Faith Leslie, the sister of Hope. Faith is captured by the Indians and...I'll let you guys figure it out when we read the book, "Hope Leslie."

Seaver's text seems to be one of the most popular books of the time. There was even a fictionalized account of Mary Jemison’s life created and illustrated as a children’s book. I am beginning to be really curious why this book was reprinted time and time again…

The title page of the first editions reads:
A NARRATIVE
OF THE LIFE OF
MRS. MARY JEMISON.
Who was taken by the Indians, in the year 1755, when only about twelve years of age, and has continued to reside amongst them to the present time.
CONTAINING
An Account of the Murder of her
Father and his Family; her sufferings; her marriage to two Indians; her troubles with her children; barbarities of the Indians in the French and Revolutionary Wars; the life of her last Husband &c.; and many Historical Facts never before published.
Carefully taken from her own words, Nov. 29th, 1823

TO WHICH IS ADDED,

An Appendix, containing an
account of the tragedy at the Devil’s Hole. in 1763, and of Sullivan’s Expedition; the Traditions, Manners, Customs, &c. of the Indians, as believed and practiced at the present day, and since Mrs. Jemison’s captivity; together with some Anecdotes, and other entertaining matter.

BY JAMES E. SEAVER

CANANDAIGUA:
PRINTED BY J.D. BEMIS AND CO.

What this title page of the first edition tells me is that it had to reveal a large amount about the book to the reader before the reader even opened it. To me, it seems like it is a full page advertisement right at the start of the book. Readers will know everything they need to know to make an informed decision as to whether to read this text or not. What I am curious to find out is how the advertising for this book changed over the years. When you look at the 1824 title page and compare it to the 1856 title page, what happened between those years that the publisher didn’t feel the need to include as much information on the title page. The book, by 1856 have it’s own “buzz” around it? Did they still have to market it? If so, did they have to market it differently?

By 1856, the title page had been reduced down to:
LIFE
OF
MARY JEMISON
DEH-HE-WA-MIS.

By JAMES E. SEAVER

Fourth Edition,
WITH GEOGRAPHICAL AND EXPLANATORY NOTES

This got me to thinking. Has the readership changed? Why is there so much less information on the fourth edition’s title page? Is the narrative so well known at this point, the descriptive summary on the title page was no longer necessary?

I have 38 reprintings listed on my inventory...from 1824 to 2006. I think the fact that this narrative has been republished so many times over the years lends itself to further investigation. What is so captivating about this particular captivity narrative? Who kept purchasing it over the years? How was it marketed? I am really intrigued by the marketing aspects of this text. What went on with the first edition that made it such a success that it is still being reprinted in the 21st century?

:)

I used to blog...

but then life got complicated, too complicated to write about. Time was an issue. Then priorities...obsessing over Chef Tom on "Top Chef" is a priority.

For me, it's all about balance.

Immerse yourself in scholarship until your head hurts and then lay under the covers with the puppy watching season two of Top Chef on your iPhone.

Balance.

:)